The meanings that are conveyed and the responses that are evoked are connected to the cultural heritage from which the art form arises.
(Chinn & Kramer, 2011)
Aboriginal Students Affected by
Racism in Canada
Assimilate = Become like others
Pressure to Assimilate
Ideology of Racism
"
by: Christine Clores
In elementary school I had several teachers tell me that there's no point in being Native because that's not the way things are and I should adapt to white life (Currie et al., 2012)
"
I couldn't defend myself anymore... I dyed my hair lighter and changed my clothes. It bugs me, but it's necessary to survive and thrive ... It's easier to become 'white-washed' than to keep on trying to look and act stereotypically Indian (Currie et al., 2012)
Beliefs about racial inequalities that are based on superficial differences in intellectual capacity and moral character (NCCAH, 2012).
"
History of Aboriginal Racism
Racism Persists
The Creation of Race
- In 1684, François Bernier published the first classification of humans into distinct races.
- This followed in 1735, by a publication by Carolus Linneaus which further classified people based on continental differences
- Unfortunately, these racial classifications and hierarchies have persisted into the 21st century in 'race-based' societies (NCCAH, 2013)
- Some races are 'naturally' inferior, and consequently;
- Racial categories are even written into political, legal and social systems (e.g. Indian Act in 1876)
1876: Indian Act - stole their identity, aimed to get rid of the "Indian Problem", trade identity for being able to vote, get a job, etc.
Race Gone Wrong
Loss of identity
- By the 1800s, the term 'race' had become commonplace and for the first time in human history, racial classifications were used to create and maintain discriminatory social hierarchies (NCCAH, 2013)
- One of the most notorious forms of racism at the institutional level was the residential school system, which represented the attempted assimilation of Aboriginal children (NCCAH, 2014)
Reflection...
"What are the barriers to freedom?"
“who benefits?”
“what is wrong with
this picture?”
Anti-racist Media
The media has a great deal over societal attitudes and norms and is an important avenue through which racism can be addressed.
“what needs to change?”
Emancipatory Knowing
Questioning Aboriginal's Academic Legitimacy
Ability to recognize social and political problems of injustice or inequity, to realize that things could be different, and to piece together complex elements of experience and context to change a situation as it is to a situation that improves people’s lives (Chinn & Kramer, 2011).
Racial Discrimination is a huge problem that needs ot be stopped.
" Aboriginals Don't have to work to pay for school! "
Solutions
Discrimination at university often involved assumptions other students made about their academic legitimacy (Currie et al., 2012)
Solutions must address the root causes of ill-health, the experience of disease, clinical symptoms, and the way and means through which Aboriginal peoples interact with health care systems.
Systemic Policies
Stereotypes
Anti-oppressive education
Aboriginal Peoples' Program promotes "community projects that incorporate Aboriginal values, cultures, and traditional practices into ACTIVITIES designed to strengthen cultural identity and enable positive life choices" (NCCAH, 2013)
Implement multicultural programs that that include a straightforward version of our colonial history, and emphasize the value of diversity within society.
The goals of the curriculum are to increase students' awareness and knowledge of racism (NCCAH, 2013)
"
Programs &
Strategies
They assume I am here on funding/scholarships/reserved seating and that I do not work to pay for school or work hard for my grades or to get admission - not true all!
(Currie et al., 2012)
- Anti-racist media
- Anti-oppressive education
- Cultural Safety within health care
- Systemic policies
"
"Aboriginal University students may experience high levels of racial discrimination over the course of their life"
(Currie et al., 2012)
Cultural Safety Within Health Care
Issues regarding racism are addressed by developing various concepts of cultural sensitivity and competence to inform health practice (NCCAH, 2013)
Involvement of Aboriginal peoples in design and management of own health care programs and services
Cultural Competence and Cultural Safety in Nursing Education
Aboriginal Health Program of Provincial Health Services Authority in B.C.
Aboriginal Racism in University Students
Female Students = Prostitutes
Ways to Address Racism
Aboriginal Women Falsely Portrayed
Indigenous peoples of Canada
Aboriginal
Female students often reported shame-based experiences in public - such as being perceived as prostitutes or on social assistance
(Currie et al., 2012)
"
Almost all the time if I am at a bus stop people look at me as if I were a hooker. It makes me feel like I can't go anywhere without that label
(Currie et al., 2012)
Aboriginal art projects and programs are working to change perceptions and stereotypes about Aboriginal culture and peoples.
Changing perceptions and stereotypes is the first step to addressing the marginalization and discrimination.
(Muirhead & Leeuw, 2012).
Discriminated Against When Attempting to Access Goods or Services
"
A socially constructed category of identity with its roots in an ideology that situates human beings within a hierarchy of social value (NCCAH, 2013)
Discrimination Against Accessing Goods & Services
Race
Students described difficulties getting service at restaurants, being followed by in-store detectives, and demeaning behavior acted towards them by medical personnel
(Currie et al., 2012)
Aboriginals had experienced discrimination related to housing (Currie et al., 2012)
Housing is an absolute necessity for living a healthy life (Mikkonen & Raphael, 2010)
"
When I was looking for a place to rent I was asked if "I drank" because the lady said "you people are known to do that" (Currie et al., 2012).
Disease and Lower Life Expectancy
"
The path of racism within health care settings leads to diminished health outcomes for Aboriginal people as seen in the current evidence of disease and diminished life expectancy
A social injustice based on falsely contracted, but deeply embedded, assumptions about people and their relative social value (NCCAH, 2013)
Racism
Affects Mental Health
Racism Among University Students
Racial discrimination has been consistently associated with psychological distress and depressive symptoms
(Currie et al., 2012).
The unpredictable and uncontrollable nature of these experiences made it difficult to concentrate and want to succeed (Currie et al., 2012)
Aboriginal university students who participate in their culture may experience more frequent racial discrimination than those who do not (Currie et al., 2012)
Aboriginal Art
If there is a single urban Aboriginal experience it is the shared perception that they are negatively stereotyped (Currie, Wild, Schopflocher, Laing & Veugelers, 2012).
7 in 10 Aboriginal adults had been teased or insulted because of their ethnic background, and more than one-third did not feel accepted by non-Aboriginal people (Currie et al., 2012)
Aboriginal art has the potential to stimulate interest in Aboriginal culture and respect for the dynamic, resilient, and unique place Aboriginal peoples hold in Canada. (NCCAH, 2012)
Social and Emotional Harm to Aboriginal Peoples
Racism can be expressed through longer wait times, fewer referrals, and disrespectful treatment for Aboriginal people (NCCAH, 2014)
Aboriginal people start to lose trust in a system that claims to care for them
Poor Health Outcomes
Consequences of
Racism & Stereotyping
Racism is a key social determinant of health for Aboriginal, and can discourage people from achieving their full capabilities by debilitating confidence and self-worth, which in turn leads to poorer health outcomes (Australian Government Department of Health, 2014)
Denies people a sense of dignity
Degrades autonomy
Poorer Health Outcomes
"this game is so boring" by Alida Kinnie Starr
Aesthetic Knowing
Insecurity about personal worth and competence
Personal Stories
Psychological distress & anxiety
story about a young Aboriginal woman trapped in a stigmatized world and how art is a form of healing.
Aspect of knowing that requires an understanding of deep meanings in a situation which allows the nurse to transform experience into what is not yet real but envisioned as possible (Chinn & Kramer, 2011).
Carries connotations of inferiority, where few people can feel respected, valued, and confident.
"this game is so boring" by Alida Kinnie Starr
It encapsulates the way I feel
As I grew older the ogling intensified, and by the time I was thirteen, I figured out how to hide my body, leave the game, stay high, wear layers, hang my head, pull my shoulders forward, tuck my ass under in
for all that people saw in me, for all the sexuality that people assumed I was projecting.
Making art and being on stage has been a part of my
To be looked at without anticipating pain is my growth. Learning to be feel beautiful EVEN WHILE being looked at; this is my art. My relationship to being watched and understanding where I fit into society is part of my life’s landscape. My body is my enemy, my tool, my process. I am a warrior inside and out. I fight to feel freer every day. I am my own battlefield, my own illustration. When I express confidence or show my shape, I am regarded as a poor role model, a slut, a problem maker to women. To men, I am entertainment. My ass is owned the minute I step out the door. It has been this way since I can remember. I am on display whether I want it or not. I’m part of the game.
This image is stolen from a 60s Playboy. I have been remixing it for 15 years.
many days in a world where I am on display whether I like it or not.
I am part of this game. This game is boring, but I am stuck in it. I don’t think any of us in the western world know anything other than this game; the game of women as display and men (and some women) as watchers. Men readily stare, compartmentalize, ogle and assume ownership of women’s bodies. “It’s a male thing” men will say about the right to leer. “Women’s asses are just so much nicer than men’s – “ it’s biological. A hunter thing. Primal.” Uhuh, Any excuse will do.
This privileged position of watching women’s bodies is rarely questioned. And many women enjoy being watched, even draw power and strength from it.
Since I was very young I have known I was on display, with nowhere to go get out from beneath the gaze. Even as a little girl, full grown men would tell me I was “sexy,” take me aside and pin me up against walls, grope me, tell me I should like it. Poor you, some say. Poor you to be considered sexy. me a river.
(Currie et al., 2012)
Bill Reid Museum
Healing
Inside the Museum (left)
References
"Art" Art piece (right)
Art is beneficial in healing processes, cultivation of good health, and maintenance of well-being for individuals and communities, particularly for Aboriginal peoples in Canada.
Art therapy includes writing, listening to, and creating music, dance, photography, sewing, carving, engraving, and other forms of creative expression.
(Muirhead & Leeuw, 2012).
Chinn, P.L., & Kramer, M.K. (2011). Integrated Theory and Knowledge Development in Nursing (8th Ed.). St Louis: Mosby Elsevier
Currie, C., Wild, T., Schopflocher, D., Laing, L., & Veugelers, P. (2012). Racial discrimination experienced by aboriginal university students in Canada. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 57(10), 617-625.
Muirhead, A. & de Leeuw, S. (2012). Art and wellness: The importance of art for Aboriginal peoples’ health and healing. National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health.
National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health. (n.d.). Retrieved on November 2, 2014 from http://www.nccah-ccnsa.ca/419/Aboriginal_Racism_in_Canada.nccah
Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre. (2011). Animal Symbology. Retrieved on October 26, 2014 from http://shop.slcc.ca/node/5.
Raven's Claw Sculpture
A Raven is a symbol of the Coastal People’s view that the world has many faces, is a place full of surprises, neither good nor bad, often unpredictable.
This relates to an Aboriginal person's sense of identity.